Family's keeper
by nighttime writer
Summary: Alex finds himself at a crossroads after an unexpected arrival forces him to confront a past he thought he had left behind.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note – This story is a re-write of an original story I started a couple of years ago entitled "The Doctor's Guardian." When that story was being written Grey's Anatomy was still only on season one. I was only a sophomore in high school. I am now a senior in college and my writing style has changed over the years (I am hoping for the better). However, recently, I have found a renewed interest in Grey's Anatomy. I found this story amongst other discontinued ones and I decided that I should continue it. However, too much has happened in Grey's since the time this story was first being written. Therefore, I decided that it this story will be set to season 6. It will no longer be set in season 2 as originally planned when they were just interns. Now this will take place after Izzie leaves the show. Alex and Lexie won't be together in this story and, for the sake of this storyline, they never were. Also, this is written after "Sympathy for the Parents." I hope you guys will be just as curious as before. The disclaimer will only be written once. I do not own any of the characters that are familiar in this story. Now, on with the story...

P.S. I don't have a beta for this story, and therefore, this first chapter has not been proofread. If you're interested in helping with this story in the future please tell me in a review or a pm and I'd love get something set up with one or two people. Thanks.

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_**Prologue **_

The truth is our parents screwed us up horribly. It started the minute we were born. After all, they are only humans. We can't expect them not to screw us up. Of course, most everyone expect parents to do the best they can. In end, no matter who they are, no matter whom we become, we're flawed, and honestly, more often than not, we can trace that flaw back to our parents. That's not to say we played no role in this process. No, I'm sure that we were all little brats that gave them way more grief than any person deserves. It's just how life goes. Some of us never get over it. Others of us rise above the circumstances and fight to overcome our past. Some of us run. Some of us run as far as we can. The great thing about being an adult is that we're no longer kids; more importantly, we're no longer our parents' kids. Whatever future they may have intended for us we can choose to take it or leave it. And some of us take it. Others of us just leave it. We can now write our own future; we can make our own decisions – and, if we don't want them to be, then they don't need to be part of our lives. The past is the past. The only problem is that the past doesn't stay buried forever. Like I said before, we are no longer our parents' kids. We can now write our own future, but sometimes, that's scarier than facing the future they tried writing for us.

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****_**Chapter One - **_

It was three o'clock in the morning by the time Dr. Alex Karev was able to punch out after completing a thirty hour shift. The post op unit was devoid of its usual chaos because all of its patients were fast asleep. The operating rooms were clean and sterile once more. It had been a long two days complete with interns messing up, Yang in a normal bitchy competitive mood, and the chief of surgery on yet another rampage because Seattle Grace was only number 12. However, Alex had taken it in stride and had ordered all the interns to scut, told Yang to screw herself, and avoided Dr. Webber at all costs necessary. He helped perform a routine appendectomy solo again for the third time in his career a couple of hours ago, but despite how hectic his shift was, it was overall one of his better days.

It kept him busy, which meant it kept his mind busy. It kept his mind from wandering into dangerous territory which was life outside the hospital. However, work was now done, and his mind was free to roam. As he walked towards the locker room he allowed his thoughts to wander to his wife. He wondered if she was happy; if she was sleeping; if she was healthy. Late at night when no one was around he even let a few tears fall – of course that was after a few beers and a shot or two because Alex Karev never cried. Except he did cry. He cried almost every waking night when he hugged his pillow tightly, using it as a cheap replacement for his wife. At night, when he could freely admit to himself how much he missed her, and how much he hated her for getting him to lover her, he would let silent tears fall. Sometimes Meredith would ask if he was alright. A couple of times Derek had helped him drunkenly stumble into bed after he had too much to drink. Once or twice even Mark Sloan took pity when he was over at the house and turned a blind eye when one of the tears betrayed his stone hard exterior. Lately, however, he had been doing a good job of hiding his pain. He even overheard Meredith tell Derek that she was happy it seemed like he was moving on. They didn't know though, and as long as the hospital kept him busy – as long as they kept shoving thirty hour shifts down his throat, and Yang kept bitching, and the interns kept messing up, as long as Webber was on a rampage to be number one once more they would all be too busy to notice.

Alex shrugged off his top scrub before throwing on an old Iowa t-shirt. It was one of Izzie's favorites, and it was one of those nights. It was the last thing she had worn before she left, and it still had a faint trace of her smell.

"You wear that shirt like every day," Cristina's voice cut through Alex's thoughts.

Alex looked up noticing for the first time that Meredith and Cristina had entered sometime in the last fifteen minutes or so. They too had a long rough shift, and they too, were exhausted beyond belief. However, Cristina lived across the street from the hospital, and Meredith was hitching a ride home with Derek meaning that both their days were over.

"Shove it, Yang," Alex grumbled grabbing his man pack and heading out of the locker room.

He could feel both Meredith and Cristina's eyes following him as he made his way out of the locker room. He shoved down the temptation to turn around and assure them he was fine, knowing that it would only fuel them both all the more into thinking he wasn't. So, he did what he did best. He left the room with his head held high, leaving the door open, and loudly flirted with the first nurse that he passed by, making sure that they could hear all the words he did not mean.

"How about one night, after your shift, we go grab a drink?" Alex questioned innocently with his crooked smirk.

Predictably, the young nurse swooned at the doctor's attention, blushing lightly as she softly accepted his offer. She quickly scribbled down her number to give to Alex before returning to her rounds. Alex made sure that Cristina and Meredith watched him watch her ass as she walked down the hall. He gave his two friends a knowing smirk and a wink, earning an eye roll and an unsatisfied scoff from both, before making his way down the hall. What they didn't see was Alex throwing the number away in the nearest garbage can.

Alex walked out of the hospital and towards Joe's. The bar was closed, but Alex walked around back where he knew Joe kept a spare key. What the others didn't know was that before he had found an apartment three months after their internship started, he had been living in the office area of Joe's bar. He didn't mind the small space. He had come to Washington with only a duffle bag full of a week's worth of clothes and nothing more. After Izzie had walked out Joe told Alex that his key was still there just in case he needed air, or a drink. And more than once Alex had taken Joe up on the offer. Sometimes, when being home got too rough, Alex just crashed on the old couch altogether.

Alex opened the back door and turned on some lights as he made his way towards the bar area. There were a few stragglers, all of whom looked like they were definitely just waiting for a cab to get home. Joe was placing some glasses back into their respective places, ready once more, for tomorrow's rush.

"Hey Alex," Joe greeted spotting the familiar face.

Alex dropped his back on the counter behind the bar before picking up some glasses and helping Joe restock.

"Hey," Alex greeted. "Looks like it was a busy night."

"Yeah, sounds like you guys over at the hospital had a lot too," Joe noted all the different hospital employees that were regulars at his bar.

"Yeah, drunk driver caused a three car pileup. I heard they lost everyone," Alex shook his head. "Looks like it's got most everyone shaken up."

Joe nodded handing Alex the last clean glass. He began to clean off the bar as Alex helped himself to a glass of beer. Joe watched from the corner of his eye as Alex gulped down the entire glass in one masterful swig. He watched wearily as Alex proceeded to fill himself another glass before downing half of that one before finally giving it a rest. Joe said nothing, carefully schooling his features to one of neutrality, despite the fact that inside he wanted nothing more than to ask his friend to cut the bullshit and tell him how he was really doing. However, Alex wasn't one to open up, and Joe was careful not to pry too much. So instead, Joe did the next best thing.

"Are you planning on going home tonight?" Joe questioned, waving good bye to a costumer whose wife had finally arrived.

Alex shook his head. "No, I'll probably just crash in one of the on-call rooms or here."

Joe nodded watching as Alex downed the rest of the beer and went for yet another refill. "You might want to slow down or something," Joe advised.

"Yeah, I know," Alex sighed.

It took Joe another hour to get the place clean after the last of the costumers left. He had used every excuse in the book to delay his own departure, afraid of how much beer and how quickly Alex had consumed it. After Alex's last comment the pair had slipped into a silence; Joe was unable to start any real conversation and Alex was too consumed in his own drinking binge to really notice. However, the sky was already brightening, and Joe's boyfriend had called him four times already asking about his whereabouts. Joe almost felt guilty that he had someone to come home to, while his friend drank himself further into oblivion.

"You working tomorrow, Alex?" Joe questioned as he turned off all but one light. He on his jacket and fished for his keys out of his pocket.

"No. I'm off," Alex slurred. "Off, off, off. No thinking about work. Except lots of thinking."

"You want me to drive you anywhere?" Joe paused watching as Alex tentatively stood up. "You sure you don't want to go home? I can give you a lift," Joe offered, catching Alex when his face nearly met the bar.

"No, I'm good," Alex slurred taking two shaky steps before crashing onto a heap on the floor.

Joe nodded and sighed. "Right. Well, let me help you to the couch in the back because you can't go to the hospital looking like this."

Alex shook Joe's worries off. "I'm good to go back to work if I had to!" Alex spat out with a goofy grin that made Joe's heart break just a little more. Alex stood up quickly, swaying before catching himself. He grabbed his bag and shakily headed towards the door. He pushed Joe's helping hands away when he stumbled and Joe was able to do little more before his friend disappeared through the doors. Joe kept his distance as he watched Alex practically trip through the front doors of the hospital before heading towards his car. He figured that if there was any place he wanted Alex drunk at, it would be at a hospital where people could take care of him.

Alex pretended to ignore the stares he was getting from people. Thankfully it was still way too early for there to be much activity in the hospital, and therefore, there weren't too many people watching him make a fool out of himself, but truthfully, he couldn't bring himself to care as much as he probably should have. He was off work, and as long as no patients see him in this condition then he was really doing nothing wrong. At least, that's what he was trying to convince himself was the truth. In reality, he felt like he was nothing better than his dad. He wondered foolishly if this was what his dad felt when he came stumbling home from the bar all those years ago. He wondered if his father felt just as much a failure as he did as he tried three times to press the right button in the elevator before finally getting it right. He wondered if his father drank to forget like he found himself doing nearly every night of the week. He wasn't stupid; he knew that alcoholism runs in the family. He also knew that mental disorders did as well and that alcoholism could be a sign of it. But he wasn't an alcoholic. He was just grieving. At least that's what he kept telling himself.

Lexie grabbed for the blankets to cover her naked form as Alex made his way into the room while Mark reached for some clothes that littered the ground. Alex fell into the first bed in the room, completely unaware of the other two occupants in the room, immediately passing out before his head even hit the pillow. Both Lexie and Mark didn't dare make a single move for five minutes for fear that Alex would wake. It wasn't until Alex started to snore that either of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, Karev," Mark sighed looking across the room to the sleeping resident.

"Is it weird that I'm worried about him?" Lexie asked looking down at Mark as she quickly put on her bra.

"Not at all," Mark whispered. _I am too._

Suddenly, the sounds of both their pagers rang through the quiet room and both reached for them to silent them. They both turned their heads towards Karev's unconscious form, exchanging relieved smiles when Alex didn't move. Quickly, they put on the rest of their clothing before rushing out of the room. Without talking to each other Lexie left the room to grab some Advil while Mark left to find water. They met back up in the room and placed the two things besides Alex's bed, knowing that he would definitely need it come morning. Then, they made their way down the stairs towards the emergency room, both no longer boyfriend and girlfriend, but rather attending and intern.

"What do we have?" Mark questioned walking to the suddenly chaotic emergency room.

"Forty-nine year old female. GSW to the chest, no exit wound. Crashed twice in the field," the paramedic called out.

"Trauma room one," Mark ordered. "Someone page Hunt!"

"Mom?" a voice yelled out over the chaos.

"You handle her," Mark ordered to Lexie pointing to the teenage girl crying hysterically by the entrance.

Lexie nodded disappointedly, but headed towards the girl nonetheless. The girl bore a striking resemblance to someone she knew, but she couldn't quite place it. Maybe it was simply the way the girl called for her mother. It reminded her of her own mother; the fear that she had when she found out her mother was hospitalized. She remembered the helplessness she felt when her father had called.

"Excuse me," Lexie said gently, her voice soothing, despite the girl's hysterical sobs.

"Please, that's my mom," the girl cried out. "My brother is parking the car. We're not even from around here. He shouldn't have found us. Please, my mom!"

Lexie nodded understandingly. "Is it ok if I help lead you towards the family waiting room? It'll be a lot quieter than the normal waiting room. I need to ask you a few questions that'll be vital to your mom's health."

"I don't know anything," the girl sobbed. "Wait, my brother is just parking the car."

Lexie gave a comforting smile. "I know it's scary right now, but we'll do our best," Lexie assured her.

"That's my mom. She sucks at her job, but that's my mom," the girl sobbed out.

The sliding doors opened and Lexie looked past the girl's small form. Lexie felt her jaw drop as her eyes landed on one very familiar past patient. Except this time he had blood all over himself.

Lexie watched as the man's arms wrapped around the teen. She watched as the girl turned and gripped onto his dirty Iowa shirt, collapsing into his arms so that he was fully supporting her. Before Lexie could fully comprehend her actions, she turned from the two and ran into trauma room one. Mark had the paddles in his hand as he yelled a clear. She watched as the body jerked from the table. She listened and thanked whatever God was out there for the sound of the beep on the heart monitor.

"Dr. Grey, I thought I told you to take care of the family?" Mark questioned from his position at the side of the bed.

"Aaron Karev is outside. Mark, that's Alex's mom," Lexie shouted watching as Mark's jaw dropped just as hers had just moments ago.

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****P.S. Just a reminder there is no beta reader for this chapter, but I am looking for one. If you like it please review. If you don't please flame. Either way, I'd love to hear your opinions.


	2. Chapter 2

**G R E Y ' S A N A T O M Y**

Alex toppled out of the bed in a tangled heap, still engulfed in his vivid nightmare. By now it was seven o'clock and the hospital was filled with chaos once more. Outside the on-call room doors the sounds of meal carts and hungry patients deafened the hall. Families were already arriving to check on their loved ones. However, Alex was unaware of any of this, his dream much more real than the reality just past those doors.

_"Mom, make dad stop, please!" an 8 year old Alex shrieked over to his mother, as his father's fist dropped upon his small frame once more._

_ Alex cried out as the fist connected once again with his face. The blood dripped from his nose as he wiggled in a pathetic attempt to get away. His cries for his mother went unheard as the sounds of his father's thundering voice overpowered his tiny one. He could hear Aaron faintly in the corner, crying out, but he couldn't bring himself to reassure his little brother. _

_ "You think you're so smart, you little shit? Just because you won the damn spelling bee you think you can come home late? You think you can just ignore your responsibilities over here?" Adam Karev demanded throwing his son into the couch._

_ Alex landed with a thud. Immediately he felt something sharp pierce the back of his head. He brought his hand to his head only to have his hand press against a piece of glass and blood poured from the wound. He had landed on a broken beer bottle. His cries became louder as he panicked. The room was spinning and the sounds of his mother's panicked cries barely registered in his mind. Adam advanced upon his eldest son with murder in his eyes. _

_ "Daddy, stop!" Alex whimpered out causing Adam to laugh out loud drunkenly. _

_ Alex watched mortified as Adam picked up Alex's steel baseball bat. He crawled into a fetal position as Adam raised the bat high above his head. Aaron's shrieks were now louder than Alex's own as Alex braced his tiny body. _

"Daddy, stop!" Alex mumbled, flipping around on the floor, still fast asleep.

Miranda Bailey gasped out unable to stop the tears from springing to her eyes as she watched Alex toss and turn on the floor, still engrossed in his nightmare. Besides her, Lexie Grey leaned heavily against the wall as they both just watched. It was Bailey who eventually snapped out of it first.

"Lexie, go start your rounds," Bailey ordered shooing the young intern out of the room.

Bailey shook her head and locked the door to prevent anyone else from entering the room. Earlier on when Alex was still only her intern she had walked in on Alex having a nightmare. Tears were spilling from the man's eyes. Cristina was in the room and she had said something about telling Meredith, but Bailey made sure to put the fear of God in her to prevent her from doing such a thing. Upon waking Alex up he was disoriented and had swung out nearly hitting Bailey. Cristina bolted almost immediately afterwards. Alex was so embarrassed that he had avoided Bailey for the next four weeks. He said nothing of it to anyone, but afterwards Bailey had noticed that Alex was careful about where he slept. It was always where it was crowded, almost to ensure he didn't fall into a deep sleep, or worse, he didn't sleep. There was one week when Bailey had to physically force Alex to sleep during his on-call shift after his admittance that he hadn't slept for two days straight.

"Alex," Bailey called out soothingly, carefully shaking the man from his slumber.

"Stop it, daddy," Alex mumbled out.

Bailey shook Alex more firmly; her voice was louder, but still just as soothing as before, "Alex."

Alex awoke with a start. He looked around the room wildly with unmasked fear until his eyes landed on Bailey. She watched as the fear was replaced with shame. Bailey said nothing as Alex quickly stood and started to make the bed. Rather, she observed the man. She observed the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands still shook a little, no doubt as a result from the vivid dream.

"Alex," Bailey started. "Want to talk about it?"

Alex glanced over at Bailey before quickly looking back down at the bed. "No."

Bailey nodded understandingly. Despite his cocky demeanor, Bailey had been able to see past Alex's front. The smokescreens were simply an illusion to the confused tattered man that lay behind them. Outward, Alex was confident to a fault. He couldn't care less about anyone. But that was outside; that was what Alex portrayed. Over the years, Bailey had come to understand Alex on a level few bother to. Maybe it's because they worked forty eight hour shifts and she was with him more than she was with her family. Maybe it's because somewhere throughout the span of six or so years, the man had transformed from a stranger to someone she considered family. And Bailey rarely considers anyone family.

It pained Bailey to know that she would be responsible to practically breaking the already broken man. Lexie came to her earlier, flustered beyond typical intern flustered, tears in her eyes as she rambled on about Aaron being back, and Alex's mom being in the emergency room. She didn't understand what Lexie was trying to say, but she understood enough. She understood that Alex was going to have another shitty day. It almost angered her to know that Alex, the man who was really a good man underneath all that ass; the man she had taken under her wing like she would a child – that man was going to have to face his nightmare in the waking realm.

"Am I missing something, Dr. Bailey?" Alex asked, interrupting Bailey's thoughts.

Bailey looked up to see Alex's eyes hard and set, ready for the day. The emotions that were written clear as day on his face just minutes ago were nonexistent. In their place was a mask that Bailey knew all too well. It was the Alex mask. It was reserve for days where he was in a particularly bad mood and he'd slip into his cocky disgusting self. It was the mask he wore when he was hurting more than usual. He wore it a lot lately.

"Alex, you should sit down," Bailey started attempting to be nice.

"Why?" Alex scowled impatiently.

Bailey swallowed dryly. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Alex try to look disinterested in what she was saying. Of course, she knew Alex, and she knew that it was just a defense mechanism, but the damn boy did it so well sometimes…

"Aaron is downstairs," Bailey said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Alex paled looking up from his beeper, which didn't look so interesting anymore. Suddenly the alcohol from last night decided to churn his stomach upwards, and he had to swallow several times before he could even open his mouth. He stood up straighter, but his hands shook a little more by his sides.

"Why?" Alex questioned failing miserably to keep the same demeanor he had just moments ago.

"Alex, your mom came in to the E.R. early this morning," Bailey started.

"What!" Alex yelled out causing Bailey to flinch at the harsh loudness of his voice.

Bailey allowed for Alex to easily push her aside as he grabbed for the door. She chased after her intern (because yes, no matter how great a doctors each and every one of them was blossoming into, they were still her interns), but allowed him to propel his body through the crowd. She said nothing as they both reached the emergency room, nearly running into him after he stopped suddenly.

Bailey peeked around Alex to see a clear view of Aggie Karev's room. Currently they were trying to stabilize her enough to prepare her for surgery. It had been fifteen minutes since her arrival, but the commotion hadn't died down at all. Lexie and Mark were still in there assessing the patient. Outside the room Aaron and Amber stood patiently. Their eyes trained on the semi closed blinds as they waited for someone, anyone to talk to them.

"Holy shit, you weren't kidding," Alex squeaked out.

"Alex, I came up to tell you because her files came in from her home doctor. You're her next of kin as well as medical proxy," Bailey informed him.

Alex nodded. "I told her to do it after I graduated from med school, but..." Alex whispered. "I can't do this…"

Bailey shook her head; she reached up and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look down at her. "Yes, you can," Bailey encouraged.

Bailey smiled encouragingly as Alex forced one of his feet forward. His eyes averted downwards as he purposely slipped into his mother's room bypassing his siblings. Alex froze as his eyes landed on the blood all over Mark's scrubs. His entrance into the room practically went unnoticed by the nurses as they all shuffled past him busy trying to save his mom's life.

"Alex!" Mark greeted with a sense of urgency looking up from Aggie's prone form.

Alex looked up. He cleared his throat a couple of times in attempt to swallow the lump that had formed upon entering the room. "What do we have?"

"It seems the bullet has traveled and is currently stuck in the upper right quadrant. We're going to go into surgery in five minutes Karev," Mark offered. "We're waiting for Hunt to get in."

"Is she awake?" Alex asked. "Do we know how this happened?"

"Somewhat lucid. The cops are in the waiting room waiting to question the two that came in here with her," Mark nodded his head in the direction of Aaron and Amber who were still in their same position. "Alex," Mark added, his tone of voice strangely empathetic. "Go talk to them, they seem really shaken up.

_I'd rather be in here_. Alex looked out the window to see Aaron running his skinny fingers through his disheveled hair. Reluctantly, Alex made his way out the door.

"Alex!" Aaron greeted rushing forward, practically tackling his older brother in a hug.

Alex returned the hug awkwardly, his eyes fixed on his baby sister. The little girl who Alex could not get out of her favorite princess dress was now a teenager who was wearing too tight clothes for his liking. His protective brotherly instincts kicked in and he had to bite his tongue from demanding to know where the rest of her outfit was. He knew well enough to know that he had lost that right some seven years ago when he had turned around and walked away while she laid on the ground sobbing.

"Hey Aaron," Alex mumbled into his brother's ear.

The two pulled away and Aaron moved to the side to make way for Amber. Alex no longer towered her like he once did all those years ago. The confident, older brother that she once worshipped was replace with this…man standing in front of her in scrubs, awkwardly swiping his fingers through his hair like Aaron always did whenever he was nervous.

"You've grown," Alex breathed out.

"That's what happens in seven years," Amber spat out bitterly.

Alex nodded, fighting to keep his face neutral, though inside he was reeling. He knew that he deserved it. But he also knew that private school was expensive and that his mother's medicine was expensive. He also knew that being home meant having no future for not only him, but for the rest of the family as well.

"What happened? Why are you guys here?" Alex questioned.

"Mom called dad after Aaron decided to disappear off the face of the world a couple of weeks back," Amber started. "The bastard came and he never left. He said he changed…"

"Mom take him in again?" Alex asked despite already knowing the answer.

"Mom thought it'd be different this time," Amber shrugged.

"I came home yesterday and dad was already drunk off his ass," Aaron continued. "He had one of his friends over and the asshole had Amber against the wall. She was screaming and crying and I don't know…I just lost it."

"Next thing I know I'm on the ground and Aaron is beating the living shit out of dad's friend. Dad was going nuts and he hit Aaron over the head with one of mom's vase. Aaron passed out," Amber's voice broke. "Then he came after me again."

Alex swore softly underneath his breath, his nightmare coming to the forefront of his mind as he listened to his siblings' explanations. He had made sure that before he left that they were safe. He had visited his father and made him promise he would stay away from the family. He had sent the guy money to continue on with his rehab program. He had gone homeless for weeks as an intern because he was sending everything he made back home. He had done everything to keep them safe.

"I kept yelling at Aaron to wake up. I kept telling him to," Amber hiccupped out loud.

Alex led Amber to a chair as he listened to the horrifying explanation.

"Dad hit me real hard, and I must have blacked out or something because next thing you know Aaron and him were on the ground wrestling."

"He was fucking standing over Amber with a gun," Aaron laughed out, his voice cracking at the end. "A gun!"

Aaron shook his head, his hands rubbing together roughly as he attempted to calm the shaking. "I knocked it out of his hand and when we were fighting for it ma walked in the door. She was home early from work," Aaron shook his head. "I should have been more aware you know. I should have…" Aaron trailed off.

Alex shook his head vigorously. His hand reached out to pry Aaron's hands apart. Instinctively he took Aaron's hand into his. He let his other hand grasp the back of Aaron's neck like he used to when they were children. "Shh, buddy," Alex said using Aaron's old nickname. "Did dad…?"

"I just packed Amber and her in the car and started driving, intending to drive over to the nearest hospital, but dad just left, you know. He escaped but he promised to finish us. He said he wouldn't leave behind any evidence and I got scared. I told ma to just hold on. I know I was stupid. I know I should have pulled over, but I didn't know what to do. I just, I knew you'd know. So I begged ma to hold on and I drove here as fast as I could."

"From Iowa?" Alex balked out.

"We don't live in Iowa anymore. We live in Portland with ma's boyfriend," Amber spoke up.

"I've been sending you guys checks in Iowa," Alex stated. "They've been getting cashed."

"Dad still lives in Iowa. He cashed your checks and sent us whatever he didn't use," Aaron explained.

"You guys need to explain this to the police," Alex sighed, rubbing his temples. _And I definitely need a damn beer. And so the day begins. _

**G R E Y ' S A N A T O M Y**


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